Samsung Gear S3 Review: A Great Watch for Android Owners

Samsung Gear S3 Review

This looks like everyone is talking about how the smartwatch market is collapsing. But that hasn’t stopped Samsung from taking another stab at high-end wearables. From that rotating bezel to its compatibility with non-Samsung Android phones, last year’s Tizen-powered Gear S2 was full of good ideas. Not trying to build on that foundation would have been a shame.

Enter the Gear S3 Frontier. It’s a better, bigger, more refined take on Samsung’s smartwatch formula. The company threw in every feature it could think of. That rationale is Samsung through and through. Even if now might not be the best time to buy a smartwatch, it makes the Gear S3 worthy of your consideration.

Samsung tried to squeeze a lot into the new Gear S3 Frontier from an LTE radio to automatic fitness tracks to a form of Samsung Pay. And that works almost anywhere. These whiz-bang features work well while an excellent user interface makes the watch easy to use. The underlying Tizen platform. Nevertheless, you won’t find many great apps just yet. The Gear S3 Frontier is a mostly strong performer with bad timing. That is with Android Wear 2.0 coming soon. You would be smart to hold off on a purchase right now.

Pros

Excellent performance

OLED display is bright and crisp

Respectable battery life

Still, has the best smartwatch interface

Cons

Not many good Tizen apps

Automatic exercise tracking can be weird

Will be too big for some

Specifications:

NETWORK:

Technology: No cellular connectivity

LAUNCH:

Announced: 2016, August

Status: Available. Released 2016, November.

BODY:

Weight: 59 g (2.08 oz)

Dimensions: 49 x 46 x 12.9 mm (1.93 x 1.81 x 0.51 in)

Build: Stainless Steel 316L

SIM: No

Samsung Pay

IP68 certified, dust proof and water resistant over 1.5 metre, and 30 minutes

Compatible with standard 22mm straps.

Display :

Type: Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Resolution: 360 x 360 pixels (~278 PPI pixel density)

Size:1.3 inches (~48.1% screen-to-body ratio)

Multi-touch:Yes

Protection:Corning Gorilla Glass SR+

Always on display

Rotating bezel

PLATFORM:

CPU:Dual-core 1.0 GHz

OS:Tizen-based wearable platform 2.3.2

Chipset:Exynos 7270

MEMORY:

Card Slot: No

Internal:4 GB,768 MB RAM

Camera: No

Sound:

Alert types:Vibration, MP3, WAV ringtones

Loudspeaker: Yes

3.5mm jack: No

COMMS:

WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth: v4.2

NFC:Yes

GPS:Yes, GLONASS

USB:No

Radio: No

Features:

Sensors: Accelerometer, heart rate, gyro, barometer

Browser:No

Messaging: SMS(threaded view), Email, IM

Java: No

WPC wireless charging

S-Voice natural language commands and dictation

MP3/M4A/AAC/WAV player

Photo viewer

Voice memo/dial/commands

Battery:

Non-removable Li-Ion 380 mAh battery

Stand-by:Up to 72 h (3G)

Talk time: Up to 72 h (mixed usage)

MISC:

Colors: Silver, Black

Wrap-up

Samsung did a commendable job building a wearable with a little something for all with the Gear S3 Frontier. The device still falls short in lots of ways. Even after a year, that includes its overzealous automatic fitness tracking and a limited app selection. Still, with few truly interesting smartwatch options out there. The Gear S3 can’t help. On concord, feel like a refreshing change of pace. The S3 is worth considering if you are in the market for a high-end wearable. Android Wear 2.0 is coming early next year, so waiting for the next crop of watches is probably the smartest move.